Just as Tony and Christie, outfitted in matching haz-mat suits, were about to enter the "house from hell" as Tony had previously dubbed it, his phone rang. He rolled his eyes and thought, this better be good. He fished up the phone -- no small feat in a haz-mat suit -- and pulled off the helmet to glance at the number: Abby!

"Abbs! Please tell me something good." Tony realized he sounded like a puppy begging for a treat, but he was so worried he didn't care. He needed some reassurance.

"I don't know if it's good or not." Abby, on the other hand, just sounded tired. "The poison for both of them is benzene hexachloride. I called Ducky and he's treating them, but apparently there's no antidote. You either survive it or you don't."

Tony's eyes widened with shock. "You mean they could die and there's nothing I, we, anybody can do?" Frustration made him struggle with the words.

"That's about the size of it. I spent a couple of minutes looking it up and what I found confirmed what Ducky said. So if you want to nail this bastard......." Abby waited, as she wanted Tony completely focused on her next words.

"Tell me." His voice hardened and Tony felt his entire body go cold. Attempted murder or murder of two NCIS agents. Oh yeah, he wanted this. One hundred percent by the book. No way was this slime walking away from one single charge.

"You're looking for a pesticide. It has several different brand names, a couple of other chemical names. It can also be used in veterinary practice for flea and tick removal. Do you want me to list what you're looking for now?"

"No, we're going in in haz-mat gear, I don't know if I'll be able to access my Palm once I'm in. I don't trust the little piece of trash not to have this place booby-trapped in a dozen different ways. But now that I know what I'm looking for, I'll pay special attention to anything that fits the description. Thanks Abbs. By the way, I take it I'm poison free?"

"Pretty much. There were trace amounts on your clothes and in your blood stream. From what Bourne relayed, my guess is you probably picked it up from Gibbs when you were standing near him and then helping him into the ambulance. You can check with Ducky, but he didn't seem worried. I think he'd say the same thing I will; you're more valuable there right now. Do what you have to do to get this guy." Abby's voice dropped a couple of tones as she begged, "And Tony, be safe. I don't want to have to come see you in the hospital, too." Or the morgue, she thought.

"Thanks, Abbs. Don't worry. If you see me in the hospital, it'll be right by your side visiting those other two layabouts! We'll all be fine. Promise." Tony stressed those last words as much for his sake as for Abby's. The thought that Kate and Gibbs might die almost sickened Tony. 'It can't happen. I won't allow it. Not them, not my friends, not at the hands of this insane little shit. Somehow, some way, I will make this right.' "Get some rest, okay. You sound worn down. I'll call you as soon as I'm out. Oh, and Abbs?" Tony hesitated for a second, then thought, 'What the hell,' "Say a prayer for them from me, too. I haven't had a chance yet." With that he hung up the phone and repositioned his helmet, securing it tightly and checking the comm. unit inside. He then related the information he received from Abby and was gratified to hear even the grumpy Agent Owens take the news and the mission more seriously.

Again, Tony and Christie approached the house. Tony remembered that Gibbs had exited this way with no problems, so he made sure to check the front entry stairs as he approached. He could see faint dust marks where Gibbs feet had been and told his current partner to follow him in those footsteps, they were known to be safe. Once inside, Christie handed over a device much like the one they used to look for the
Marine in the coffin. Tony insisted Christie stay behind him, much to her disgust.

'Why on earth did he bring me along then,' she thought. 'Just to be a stinking pack mule?' She crossed her arms across her chest and pasted a mutinous expression on her face. 'Chauvinist,' she thought, viciously. 'He just wanted to drag another woman through this stupid place, since the first one ended up in the hospital.' Although she followed his steps mindlessly, she was so preoccupied with her unpleasant thoughts that she didn't hear him talking to her.

"Christie! Damn it Agent... Shales, pay attention!!" Tony was glad he finally remembered her last name. Now if she could just remember where her brain was. He'd heard she was supposed to be good, one of the new up-and-comers. But he'd yet to see it.

His outburst snapped her out of her internal diatribe. "Huh? Oh! What?" 'Brilliant, Chris, he already hates you. Go ahead, make it worse.' She took a deep breath, "Yes, DiNozzo?"

"I can't get through here." He gestured to the collapsed flooring that lay ahead of him. "That's where Terry broke his leg, scanner says something fishy's over here and that area off to the side is too small for me to get through. I need you to go, carefully, scanning each step before you take it, through there, then back over to here. Check out everything and see if you can determine what's over here."

She looked at him quizzically. "What difference does it make what's over there?"

"I have to get in, and I can't that way," he pointed to the direction she would take. His eleven extra inches of height and larger body frame made it impossible for him to consider. "Also, we'll have to get the evidence out eventually and I need to know if we can move it through here safely." The explanation was given patiently, although Tony was anything but patient. "Now, go. But scan everything!!"

Christie followed orders, hands shaking slightly. She scanned, and familiar enough with the equipment, knew roughly what she was looking at. It seemed sound enough to walk on. "Hey, DiNozzo, how big is Erickson, anyway?" She continued moving slowly and scanning until she was on the other side of the otherwise treacherous area.

Tony looked at her across the three-foot expanse of ruined floorboards. "You know, he's not much bigger than you. Smart question. Can't believe none of us thought of it before now. Good thinking, Shales. That means the smaller areas probably are the safer ones, and the larger ones -- the ones we 'regular sized' agents would take -- are going to be dangerous."

Christie smiled. "Maybe I should take point."

"No way, Shales. You're more valuable now than ever. Gotta protect the most valuable asset. Let the more expendable man go first and clear the way." Tony looked over at the area he hadn't been able to see clearly on the scanner. "Okay, carefully now, and not too close. To quote Abby, 'Something seemed hinky'."

Christie scanned carefully, nearly an arm's length in front of her. Suddenly something unfamiliar popped up on the screen. "Hey, Tony?" she called, a little nervous. "What's this? I don't think I recognize it."

Tony looked at the screen she had turned toward him and paused as recognition sunk in. A MINE?? That lousy, rotten, festering... Tony began swearing venomously. After a minute he looked at Christie and said, "Point the screen down by your feet. Make sure you're not standing near any kind of trip wires or triggers." She did so and when all appeared to be safe he took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eye. "Okay, Shales, here's where this is going to start to get ugly. First, you need to try and get as close as you can to that mine without tripping it. Then we're going to send a picture of it back to HQ for evidence. He can claim he didn't know anything about the floorboards, but not a planted mine. Next, since I can't get through, you're going to have to head on back to the rear of the house, carefully. Take as much time as you need to do it. See if there is a safe rear entrance. But remember, you're going to be without backup. Don't take any unnecessary chances," he gestured to the broken floorboards as a reminder, "If I can get in to join you, then I will." Tony started to run his hands through his hair in an unconscious gesture, forgetting the helmet. "If I can't, we're going to have to get the bomb squad out here to defuse that mine. We need the lab, we're pretty certain the stairs, at the very least, are booby-trapped, and I'll bet you anything that mine is meant to destroy the lab as well at the poor sod who sets it off."

Christie nodded solemnly. Funny, the more dangerous things became, the calmer she felt. This was why she'd joined NCIS. Not to be a paper pusher, which she seemed to do way too much. And now she knew why everyone spoke of Gibbs' team with that little bit of hushed reverence in their voice. This team, this whole team, knew its job. Well. And worked. Hard. And cared. Passionately.

With the screen pointed just a hair in front of her feet, Christie moved forward by fractions of inches. Suddenly she could see wires come into view. Fascinated by the handiwork of the lunatic in custody, she stayed in place and began to play the screen around.

Tony had been watching her carefully as she made her way closer to the mine. He could barely breathe, terrified for her safety. Suddenly she stopped and seemed distracted. He took a breath and was about to say something, when a look of fear crossed her face.

"Tony, don't move." She stared intently at the monitor. God, but she hoped the angle at which she held the device made the image look, well, worse than it was. She steadied her hand as best she could, glanced up at Tony with a brief smile and then looked down at his feet. She puzzled for a moment, unsure, then looked back up at him. "Listen, he rigged that side pretty well. Just don't move at all for a minute, okay?" Pointing the monitor down at her own feet she did a thorough sweep and then took a couple of safe steps toward Tony. Then she aimed for Tony's feet one more time and took her time scrutinizing the image. Finally she sighed and explained to him what she thought she saw.

"Okay, looks to me like your left foot is about two inches away from a detonation wire. Your right foot is about six inches away from another major cut in a joist. I wanted to be sure of what I saw before I told you to move. How did you get so close to those in the first place?"

"I must have shuffled my feet some without thinking about it when I was trading off the equipment and getting you going off the far right side. Talk about careless, here I'm warning you to be careful and I almost send us up in a hail of shrapnel." Tony shook his head. "Think I'm safe to back straight up?" He noticed she bit her lip as she nodded, but it looked like reasonable affirmation, so he gently, slowly slid his feet back, first one, then the other. When no large cracking sounds or pelting metal assailed them after a foot of movement, they each let out a small sigh of relief.

"Think you can get that image of the mine stored now?"

"Sure, no sweat."

Tony grinned, "Then I want the name of your antiperspirant. I'm sweating bullets over here!"

Against her will, laughter burbled out of Christie's mouth. She cut it off sharply. "Listen, Mr. Wise Guy, we've got work to do! Now I have the image and I'm headed for the back of the house. And yes, I'll be more careful than you."

Damn, thought Tony. She can snark just like Kate. Kate. I hope she and Gibbs are okay. Smile gone, Tony turned and carefully picked his way back out the front of the house.